Instead of impersonal emails coming from a clinic's brand, they should be signed by the clinic owner, doctor or nurse practitioner
At times, it can be hard to remember what life was like before the COVID-19 pandemic. Aesthetic clinic owners took pride in the experience that they provided for patients, whether it was the front desk staff taking coats and offering coffee or the comfortable waiting room with magazines and a TV.
Every effort was made to make patients feel at home, and to make them feel cared for. All of this helped to build a personal bond between the practitioner and the patient.
Now, visiting a clinic can feel clinical, and often intimidating. There is no waiting room and no refreshments. Patients have to wait outside or in their car until the clinic sends a text to confirm that they can enter. They are then greeted by staff covered from head to toe in personal protective equipment (PPE) who take their temperature before they can even set foot in the practice. It is hard to even recognise them.
Everyone is doing their best right now, but with all the effort in the world, the clinic experience simply no longer feels as intimate as it did. However, all is not lost. There are a surprising number of ways in which the practitioner can build intimacy with their patients, even those who do not feel safe setting foot in the clinic (right now).
Missed opportunities and doing things differently
The patient experience usually begins in the clinic. However, a lot of that intimacy depends on the way that aesthetic practitioners market to their patients—whether it is through their website, email or social media. Practitioners have the ability to recreate some of the warmth and affability that is currently missing.
However, before I detail how to do this, it is worth looking at what so many clinics are getting wrong when it comes intimacy in their marketing.
As email marketers, we are on the email lists of hundreds of clinics around the world. It is our business to see first-hand how most of them communicate.
During the first lockdown, we saw the same mistake being made again and again: clinics sending out boilerplate emails about the new restrictions coming in and how they are going to have to close, and then going into radio silence for months. When they re-opened, many sent out another message about the steps they were taking to minimise the risk of COVID-19—but that was it.
Within a few days, it was business as usual: everyone pushing special offers and promoting new treatments. Images of smiling women in bikinis were everywhere. It was like the pandemic was not still ongoing or never happened, and frankly, it all felt a little insensitive to patients who had gone through something of an ordeal. At the very least, it was a lost opportunity to connect and show leadership!
So, let us go back a step and see what these clinics could have been doing differently. Let us look at the golden opportunities they missed:
- They missed the opportunity to communicate one-to-one. Instead of emails coming from a clinic's brand, which feels impersonal, they could have been signed by the clinic owner, doctor or nurse practitioner. It does not matter that you are communicating to thousands, a message feels more personal when it is from a named person.
- Many patients were feeling anxious during the lockdown, worried about their health, their jobs and their future. This was an opportunity to show empathy, reassure them and ask them if everything was ok. During the lockdown, practices could have sent messages offering help and support, or something as simple as asking patients to ‘reply to my email and let me know how you are coping during the lockdown’. Being personal means interacting with your audience, not just having a monologue. It also means opening up to them. For example, some of our clients shared what they were up to during the lockdown. One doctor even worked in accident and emergency and shared first-hand her experiences of treating COVID-19 patients. It generated a stream of heartfelt responses from her patients.
- Even post-lockdown, many patients were still affected. Fearful of the pandemic, worried about the economy and uncomfortable leaving their homes, they needed comfort and reassurance. Being intimate with your patients means taking a more holistic approach. Aesthetic practitioners do not exist to just sell and carry out treatments. Being a practitioner is about improving the lives of patients—and that means holding their hand while they go through this very difficult period. Sending them tips and advice on how to take care of themselves when they are stuck at home is a great way to do this, including exercises that they can do, how to take care of their skin and how to take care of their mental health, or even sharing an inspiring or uplifting story.
- Both during and after the lockdown, there was another opportunity to be intimate with patients who were reluctant to come into clinics. Many clinics offered and continue to offer video consultations to patients who would rather stay at home. Some also offer a ‘drop off’ service where patients can have skin products brought to their car so they do not have to enter the practice. Open days are unable to happen for the foreseeable future, but a lot of clinics have been getting around that by running virtual events, for example, using Instagram live, where patients can watch treatment demos, interact with doctors and even book online while the event is in progress. There is something intimate about being able to interact with a practice while sitting in your kitchen. Many clinics have found that attendance is even higher compared to their in-person events.
- Being intimate means communicating frequently. Many clinic owners are fearful of communicating more than once a month, worried that they might be pestering their patients. However, when helping patients, sending an email at least once a week is welcome. Imagine having a friend who rarely called because they were too scared of bugging you! When patients feel that it is safe to come in for treatment, which clinic are they likely to think of? The clinic that took no interest, or the one that emailed them on a weekly basis to help them through the lockdown and beyond?
»Patients rather like some of the changes that have come about. They enjoy being able to attend virtual events while staying in their pyjamas. They enjoy picking up products without having to leave their car. Most importantly, they love communication that is personal and from the heart«
Rethinking patient communication
COVID-19 is likely to be with us for some time to come, and the risk of more lockdowns is very real, so it is not too late to adopt these ideas. Therefore, it is important to consider rethinking how you communicate with patients.
Social media platforms, such as Instagram, are a great way to keep in contact with patients
It is easy to be complacent. A vaccine is imminent, and it is possible that, by the time summer comes around, life will have returned to how it was before the pandemic. Aesthetic practitioners may be tempted to sit tight until then and go back to marketing as normal. However, this may backfire.
The reality is that patients rather like some of the changes that have come about. They enjoy being able to attend virtual events while staying in their pyjamas. They enjoy picking up products without having to leave their car. Most importantly, they love communication that is personal and from the heart.
The experience that patients have with their practitioner outside the clinic is every bit as important as the experience they have inside the clinic.
Too often, clinic communications centre around blunt, aggressive offers and discounts. Practitioners would never communicate to patients in that way when they are in the clinic, so why communicate in that way through marketing?
So, here are three ways in which practitioners can create a sense of intimacy with their patients through marketing, so that they know, like and trust the clinician, and book with that clinic more often:
- Remember that people buy from people: send emails that are from an individual, rather than from the clinic. Patients connect to individuals, not brands. They do not only have to come from the clinic owner, for example, practitioners may have a member of staff who specialises in CoolSculpting, so CoolSculpting patients could hear directly from them, weaving in their own insights and experience. Give emails the appearance of being personal. The most successful campaigns that we have seen have no images other than the occasional before and after picture. They are so successful because they look and feel like they have been sent from a real person. When was the last time your friends or colleagues sent an email that was full of graphics?
- Do not just send promotional emails, help your patients too: aesthetic practitioners are in business to make money, but that does not mean that every communication sent has to be about offers. Patients are attracted to practitioners because they want to help them be a better version of themselves, so mix marketing emails with nurture emails. It is also fine to occasionally not sell anything at all. Why not send an email with tips on how to have a healthy diet, or how to pamper yourself during the long dark winter months? From time to time, a link to a product or treatment can be weaved into these messages, or patients can be encouraged to contact you, but do not feel pressured to sell with every message. Building relationships is a long-term investment. It is also fine to tell patients what you have been up to. One of our clients used to travel a lot (when it was allowed), and shared his travel experiences. Others have written about the early days of their career and their hobbies and sports—patients love this.
- Write from the heart: it is the most powerful way to attract patients into practices. It is very hard to differentiate yourself from competitors when everyone is offering the same treatments, at the same price and to the same audience. However, competitors will never be able to replicate how you make your patients feel. Be relatable, share a story or experience that illustrates the impact that treatments have—for example, a patient who suffered from acne, how it impacted their self-confidence and how their life has been transformed since treatment. It is those human-interest stories that really draw audiences in and demonstrates how much you really care.
Conclusion
Treat the COVID-19 pandemic as an opportunity. Relationship with patients will be at a distance for some time to come, so treat every email and every Instagram update as an extension of your clinic.
The next time that you write some marketing material, just ask yourself: ‘How do I want my patients to feel when they read this?’. They could be reading your email at 1am on a Saturday night. You may be closed, but as far as they are concerned, you are interacting with them right there, right now.